This emerald isle of ours gets many things right, except when it comes to public transport.  Mana and I had the opportunity to experience the arcane mystical practices of the British Rail Network this weekend when we visited Cheshire to take part in a book signing for the Barren Worlds anthology, proudly advertised on the right.

Upon booking the tickets, we were informed with a straight face that it would be considerably cheaper – almost halving the price of the outbound journey – to book tickets to a station one stop further along the line than we desired, and simply to alight early.

While enjoying the comfort of the many disparate carriages we occupied for a total of almost half a day, we took the opportunity to reacquaint ourselves with a hidden gem of DS gaming, a much overlooked source of joy buried deep in the heart of eighteen million cartridges. The game? New Super Mario Bros.

How can you possibly describe NSMB as overlooked, I hear you ask! The fourth best-selling game of all time and regular tenant of the monthly sales charts even three whole years after release could hardly be considered a cult classic. And yet I wonder how many of the millions of NSMB owners out there have indulged in the Mario vs Luigi multiplayer, one of the most joy-inspiring experiences available to modern man.

In short, two players battle for control of five randomly appearing stars. A blow to the head or a fireball to the face or running afoul of one of the many traps packed into the four tiny levels on offer loses you a star. Such description suffices to explain the principles of the game, but fails utterly to express the mechanical perfection of the controls and abilities on offer, the sheer glee of successfully performing a double-wall jump onto your opponent’s head, bouncing off and snatching the newly-dispossessed star from midair, claiming victory by a mere pixel’s breadth over your disbelieving nemesis.

I do hope that I’ve underestimated the number of players of this delightful little afterthought.  It deserves to be thrust into the limelight, and with the arrival of New Super Mario Bros Wii this winter, I can only hope that Nintendo will see the sense of expanding the competitive elements rather than sticking steadfastly to their principles of cooperation.